From dcfb172704f3afb68a30425029ec834be2883274 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: bt Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2024 13:22:19 -0400 Subject: More content porting, on-going markdown changes for lowdown support --- build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html | 110 +++++++++++++++++++---------------- 1 file changed, 59 insertions(+), 51 deletions(-) (limited to 'build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html') diff --git a/build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html b/build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html index f1c294c..a1d125f 100644 --- a/build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html +++ b/build/self-hosting-fathom/index.html @@ -1,87 +1,95 @@ - + Self-Hosting Fathom Analytics with DigitalOcean - - + + +
-

Self-Hosting Fathom Analytics with DigitalOcean

+

Self-Hosting Fathom Analytics with DigitalOcean

+

2021-02-02

-

Since my previous post walked through the process of setting up Fathom PRO on Netlify, I figured it made sense to create a similar tutorial for the "Lite" variation, self-hosted on DigitalOcean.

-

Please note that while I think the PRO version of Fathom Analytics is truly great, for my small, niche blog it seemed overkill compared to self-hosting. Switching over from $14/mo to $5/mo while retaining most of the same functionality was a no-brainer. Choose the option that best suits your needs (or in the case - budget & bandwidth).

-

With that cleared up - let's get into it!

-

Prerequisites

+ +

Since my previous post walked through the process of setting up Fathom PRO on Netlify, I figured it made sense to create a similar tutorial for the “Lite” variation, self-hosted on DigitalOcean.

+ +

Please note that while I think the PRO version of Fathom Analytics is truly great, for my small, niche blog it seemed overkill compared to self-hosting. Switching over from $14/mo to $5/mo while retaining most of the same functionality was a no-brainer. Choose the option that best suits your needs (or in the case - budget & bandwidth).

+ +

With that cleared up - let’s get into it!

+ +

Prerequisites

+
  1. One or more website(s) where you would like to include analytics
    2. -
  2. DigitalOcean account (this link will give you a $100 credit!)
    3. +
  3. DigitalOcean account (this link will give you a $100 credit!)
  4. Positive attitude and passion for privacy-respecting analytics!
-

Create a Droplet

-

Once your DigitalOcean account is setup, navigate to the Marketplace and search for Fathom Analytics. Then click the Create Fathom Analytics Droplet.

-

From here you'll be brought to a page that allows you to customize the specifications of your new droplet. If you're a smaller traffic site (personal blog, etc) selecting the $5/month Basic Shared CPU option is your best bet.

-

- Fathom Droplet Details -
Creating the new droplet (direct link to image)
-

+ +

Create a Droplet

+ +

Once your DigitalOcean account is setup, navigate to the Marketplace and search for Fathom Analytics. Then click the Create Fathom Analytics Droplet.

+ +

From here you’ll be brought to a page that allows you to customize the specifications of your new droplet. If you’re a smaller traffic site (personal blog, etc) selecting the $5/month Basic Shared CPU option is your best bet.

+

Select the data-center region based on where most of your traffic originates from. I would suggest enabling IPv6 and setting up your authentication via SSH instead of a regular password system. Adding backups is entirely at your own discretion.

-

Once you're ready, click Create Droplet.

-

Enter the Matrix (not really)

+ +

Once you’re ready, click Create Droplet.

+ +

Enter the Matrix (not really)

+

Once DigitalOcean finishes spinning up your new droplet, open a terminal and connect to it by entering:

+ 
ssh root@YOUR_DROPLET_IP
-

If you setup your login via SSH everything should work as-is. If you went the password route, you'll given a prompt to enter it.

-

Now that you're connected, Fathom will guide you through a simple configuration setup. It's fairly straightforward and painless. Once complete, move to the next step.

-

Domains

-

You'll most likely want to host this instance on your own domain or subdomain - instead of connecting directly via the droplet's IP. Head over to your Networking page in the sidebar of DigitalOcean and add your custom domain.

-

Then, click on that newly added domain - we need to add some new records. You're going to add two new A records to this domain:

-

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TypeHostnameValue
A@YOUR_DROPLET_IP
AwwwYOUR_DROPLET_IP

+ +

If you setup your login via SSH everything should work as-is. If you went the password route, you’ll given a prompt to enter it.

+ +

Now that you’re connected, Fathom will guide you through a simple configuration setup. It’s fairly straightforward and painless. Once complete, move to the next step.

+ +

Domains

+ +

You’ll most likely want to host this instance on your own domain or subdomain - instead of connecting directly via the droplet’s IP. Head over to your Networking page in the sidebar of DigitalOcean and add your custom domain.

+ +

Then, click on that newly added domain - we need to add some new records. You’re going to add two new A records to this domain:

+

The last thing you need to do is set your nameservers to point to DigitalOcean:

+ 
ns1.digitalocean.com
 ns2.digitalocean.com
 ns3.digitalocean.com
-

Give it some time to propagate and you'll be in business!

-

SSL FTW

+ +

Give it some time to propagate and you’ll be in business!

+ +

SSL FTW

+

There is hardly a good reason not to practice security on the web, so setting up your new analytics to be served over HTTPS is just the smart thing to do. Did I mention that this is completely free as well? See - no excuses.

-

In order to get a free SSL certificate setup, you'll need to install certbot. While connected to your droplet, enter the following:

+ +

In order to get a free SSL certificate setup, you’ll need to install certbot. While connected to your droplet, enter the following:

+ 
sudo apt-get install python-certbot-nginx
+

Once installed, enter the following to setup SSL (remember to swap out the domain with your own):

+ 
certbot --nginx -d your-cool-domain.com
-

Follow the steps (it's very quick and easy) and you'll have HTTPS setup in a jiffy!

-

The Final Lap

+ +

Follow the steps (it’s very quick and easy) and you’ll have HTTPS setup in a jiffy!

+ +

The Final Lap

+

The last thing to do is login to your newly self-hosted Fathom instance, add your site you wish to track, grab the generated tracking code and then slap that badboy on whatever pages you need to track!

-

Congrats! You're now officially running your own set of analytics tools. You should be happy about what you've accomplished and proud for respecting your users' privacy!

+ +

Congrats! You’re now officially running your own set of analytics tools. You should be happy about what you’ve accomplished and proud for respecting your users’ privacy!